Rovio celebrates Angry Birds's second anniversary with 15 party-themed levels in update

It’s amazing to think that not one single person on the planet had considered using his phone to throw an aggravated bird at a thieving pig before December 2009. Probably.

24 months later, however, and lobbing feathery projectiles at bacon-flavoured targets is practically a way of life for smartphone owners.

And so it is that Rovio is celebrating the second birthday of its record-breaking mobile game Angry Birds with a free update for the original iOS edition.

Version 2.0.0 of Angry Birds brings 15 brand-new birthday cake-themed levels to the mix in a chapter 'humorously' entitled Birdday Party, and instantly unlocks all episodes. Rovio has also included new birthday-based achievements, menus, and graphics, and invites you to party with the "amazing" expanding Orange Bird. Should be a hoot. Two candles on the cake, 266 billion levels played Not content with marking the anniversary digitally, Rovio has teamed up with Barnes and Noble stores all over North America to hold Angry Birds-themed raffles, scavenger hunts, and other exclusive events. Curiously, the new update to Angry Birds has also added a holding screen featuring a map of New York and bearing the placeholder "Coming Soon" (see screenshot below). While there is no explanation for the screen's purpose at present, it could point to some kind of incoming geo-tagging or GPS-based functionality.

New statistics reveal that the world’s favourite animal displacement simulator has clocked up an astonishing 500 million downloads. As of today, players worldwide have completed 266 billion levels and catapulted a truly staggering 400 million birds. Angry Birds owners can get the anniversary update from the App Store now.